- Increasing the eligibility age for Medicare recipients from 65 to 67 by 2036.
- Raising co-pays and premiums for Medicare beneficiaries based on their incomes. Such "means testing" already exists; the president's proposal would expand it.
- Decreasing the size of annual cost-of-living increases in Social Security benefits.
Some pundits and political insiders say Republicans should leap at the offer. But there's a hitch: The new revenue — mainly from overhauling the tax code and lowering rates by eliminating or limiting a broad swath of loopholes, deductions and tax breaks — presumably would violate a no-net-tax-hike pledge that scores of Republican lawmakers have signed.
Mostly for that reason, House Republicans so far have rejected Obama's overture, despite the interest shown by Speaker John Boehner. Some pro-Republican analysts seem bewildered.
Obama's offer of big spending cuts would have "brutally fractured the Democratic Party," and congressional Republicans probably "will come to regret this missed opportunity," wrote David Brooks, a moderate-to-conservative columnist for The New York Times.
If Congress approves a version of the "grand bargain," Obama can run next year as a president who began taming the runaway deficit, extracted concessions on higher taxes from Republicans and put Medicare and Social Security on a possible path toward greater stability.
If congressional Republicans block the plan — and especially if the Aug. 2 debt ceiling deadline is missed — Obama might persuasively argue that he tried his best to strike a compromise, at some political risk to himself. Recent polls suggest that strategy is working, as Americans seem disgruntled with the Republicans' dug-in opposition.
Quote by wickedpam:
I've been talked off the ledge, thanks to Raine and others, and the tweaking of some very important programs. I get that it needs to be done. I'm okay with it so long as no one goes nutty. I'm looking at you Paul Ryan.
The things I have a problem with, from what I heard on TOP last night and the Post today, is losing my ability to take the HMI deduction on the taxes AND that there is nothing in writing that the wealthiest among us and their corporations will help to raise revenue at all.
Quote by Raine:WRT to the HMI deduction, I wan to look more into that.Quote by wickedpam:
I've been talked off the ledge, thanks to Raine and others, and the tweaking of some very important programs. I get that it needs to be done. I'm okay with it so long as no one goes nutty. I'm looking at you Paul Ryan.
The things I have a problem with, from what I heard on TOP last night and the Post today, is losing my ability to take the HMI deduction on the taxes AND that there is nothing in writing that the wealthiest among us and their corporations will help to raise revenue at all.
Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:WRT to the HMI deduction, I wan to look more into that.Quote by wickedpam:
I've been talked off the ledge, thanks to Raine and others, and the tweaking of some very important programs. I get that it needs to be done. I'm okay with it so long as no one goes nutty. I'm looking at you Paul Ryan.
The things I have a problem with, from what I heard on TOP last night and the Post today, is losing my ability to take the HMI deduction on the taxes AND that there is nothing in writing that the wealthiest among us and their corporations will help to raise revenue at all.
WRT?
Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:WRT to the HMI deduction, I wan to look more into that.Quote by wickedpam:
I've been talked off the ledge, thanks to Raine and others, and the tweaking of some very important programs. I get that it needs to be done. I'm okay with it so long as no one goes nutty. I'm looking at you Paul Ryan.
The things I have a problem with, from what I heard on TOP last night and the Post today, is losing my ability to take the HMI deduction on the taxes AND that there is nothing in writing that the wealthiest among us and their corporations will help to raise revenue at all.
WRT?
Quote by TriSec:
Morning, comrades!
I'm planning on having my heatstroke soon; I expect it will be rather busy this afternoon.
<-- dies.
Sorry, if there was a magic weather machine that controlled everything, but it was broken and the only two choices were 20 or 90....I'd pick 20 every time.
Quote by BobR:Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:WRT to the HMI deduction, I wan to look more into that.Quote by wickedpam:
I've been talked off the ledge, thanks to Raine and others, and the tweaking of some very important programs. I get that it needs to be done. I'm okay with it so long as no one goes nutty. I'm looking at you Paul Ryan.
The things I have a problem with, from what I heard on TOP last night and the Post today, is losing my ability to take the HMI deduction on the taxes AND that there is nothing in writing that the wealthiest among us and their corporations will help to raise revenue at all.
WRT?
With Regard To
The proposal would supposedly reduce the deficit by as much as $4 trillion over the next ten years, although the AP article says that it “punts on many of the most difficult issues, leaving it to congressional committees to fill in the details laterâ€. This seems like par for the course to me. The plan would reduce the number of tax brackets by half, and would cut the top tax bracket from 35 percent to between 23 and 29 percent. In order to pay for tax cuts, the plan would reduce or eliminate tax breaks for health insurance, mortgage interest, and charitable donations. Within the plan there are no specifics as to how the tax breaks would be reduced.
We’ve discussed the mortgage interest deduction many times on this blog. A budget plan proposed by the Obama Administration back in February would have reduced the deduction for those making over $250,000 as a household or $200,000 as an individual. Again, the plan proposed by the Gang of Six has no specifics, so we do not know how it would impact homeowners.
Quote by Raine:
Mala, Did WTOP or WaPo say anything about the HMI being tied to how much income a person has? I say that because I just came across this blog:The proposal would supposedly reduce the deficit by as much as $4 trillion over the next ten years, although the AP article says that it “punts on many of the most difficult issues, leaving it to congressional committees to fill in the details laterâ€Â. This seems like par for the course to me. The plan would reduce the number of tax brackets by half, and would cut the top tax bracket from 35 percent to between 23 and 29 percent. In order to pay for tax cuts, the plan would reduce or eliminate tax breaks for health insurance, mortgage interest, and charitable donations. Within the plan there are no specifics as to how the tax breaks would be reduced.
We’ve discussed the mortgage interest deduction many times on this blog. A budget plan proposed by the Obama Administration back in February would have reduced the deduction for those making over $250,000 as a household or $200,000 as an individual. Again, the plan proposed by the Gang of Six has no specifics, so we do not know how it would impact homeowners.
Quote by TriSec:
Morning, comrades!
I'm planning on having my heatstroke soon; I expect it will be rather busy this afternoon.
<-- dies.
Sorry, if there was a magic weather machine that controlled everything, but it was broken and the only two choices were 20 or 90....I'd pick 20 every time.
Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:
Mala, Did WTOP or WaPo say anything about the HMI being tied to how much income a person has? I say that because I just came across this blog:The proposal would supposedly reduce the deficit by as much as $4 trillion over the next ten years, although the AP article says that it “punts on many of the most difficult issues, leaving it to congressional committees to fill in the details laterâ€Â. This seems like par for the course to me. The plan would reduce the number of tax brackets by half, and would cut the top tax bracket from 35 percent to between 23 and 29 percent. In order to pay for tax cuts, the plan would reduce or eliminate tax breaks for health insurance, mortgage interest, and charitable donations. Within the plan there are no specifics as to how the tax breaks would be reduced.
We’ve discussed the mortgage interest deduction many times on this blog. A budget plan proposed by the Obama Administration back in February would have reduced the deduction for those making over $250,000 as a household or $200,000 as an individual. Again, the plan proposed by the Gang of Six has no specifics, so we do not know how it would impact homeowners.
nope, not a word that I say or heard - but that now makes more sense and I'm not so pissed about it
Quote by Raine:I gotta say honestly that we just don't know with regard to the deal being floated right about now. It just doesn't make sense to eliminate that deduction. It helps people -- as opposed to oil subsidies which helps business.Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:
Mala, Did WTOP or WaPo say anything about the HMI being tied to how much income a person has? I say that because I just came across this blog:The proposal would supposedly reduce the deficit by as much as $4 trillion over the next ten years, although the AP article says that it “punts on many of the most difficult issues, leaving it to congressional committees to fill in the details laterâ€ÂÂ. This seems like par for the course to me. The plan would reduce the number of tax brackets by half, and would cut the top tax bracket from 35 percent to between 23 and 29 percent. In order to pay for tax cuts, the plan would reduce or eliminate tax breaks for health insurance, mortgage interest, and charitable donations. Within the plan there are no specifics as to how the tax breaks would be reduced.
We’ve discussed the mortgage interest deduction many times on this blog. A budget plan proposed by the Obama Administration back in February would have reduced the deduction for those making over $250,000 as a household or $200,000 as an individual. Again, the plan proposed by the Gang of Six has no specifics, so we do not know how it would impact homeowners.
nope, not a word that I say or heard - but that now makes more sense and I'm not so pissed about it
Quote by wickedpam:
Didn't people say that before they got rid of people being able to deduct their credit card interest on taxes? I just don't want it to be too late in getting the actual details.
Quote by Raine:Well I can understand that.Quote by wickedpam:
Didn't people say that before they got rid of people being able to deduct their credit card interest on taxes? I just don't want it to be too late in getting the actual details.
It's why I am kinda pissed this is taking so long. You want to bet money that once a deal is met the GOP will say we have to post it online for 72 hours to red the bill (or have a frucking hissyspit like they did with HCR?)
Quote by wickedpam:
An Into the Woods shout out!? Wow no one ever references my fave musial
Quote by BobR:
This is a fascinating gallery of past and present photo images of the DC area superimposed.
Quote by BobR:Quote by wickedpam:
An Into the Woods shout out!? Wow no one ever references my fave musial
I find uses for this one all the time:
So it's your fault
No it's your fault
No it isn't mine at all
Quote by BobR:
It's 10:30 AM, and apparently someone left the door open to the gates of Hell:
Temp: 94
Humidity: 60%
Feels like: 108
Democrats favored one proposal: if Congress failed to pass tax reform by date-certain, then the top-bracket Bush tax cuts would expire -- a hefty stick that would encourage Republicans to cut a deal. Boehner never agreed to that -- and now that the grand bargain has been revived, Democrats are worried that Obama has abandoned that trigger, and perhaps his insistence on a trigger of any kind.
Multiple reports surfaced late Thursday that a trade-off might be in the works: Republicans would agree to the tax trigger if Obama and Dems would agree to nix the health care law's individual mandate -- an unpopular, but crucial component of the reforms Obama signed last year. This is precisely the sort of swap House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) has argued for recently.
Quote by wickedpam:Quote by BobR:
This is a fascinating gallery of past and present photo images of the DC area superimposed.
love these
Quote by Raine:Still looking at all of them.Quote by wickedpam:Quote by BobR:
This is a fascinating gallery of past and present photo images of the DC area superimposed.
love these
Quote by wickedpam:
Will have you tried VA for teaching? NoVA is always looking for teachers, esp Loudoun county is seems
Quote by Will in Chicago:Quote by wickedpam:
Will have you tried VA for teaching? NoVA is always looking for teachers, esp Loudoun county is seems
I sent an application to a district there last year. As things stand, I had to deal with getting money for one license. If I am still here in a few months, I will see about a Virginia license. I am so tired of subbing and being broke that it is not even funny.
O’Malley: “Comes down to one timeless question, and it is: whether we move forward, or whether we slip backâ€
Let me touch on one last thing and it is this you know on the way here I looked up the dictionary definition of tea party and one of the definitions was this, “a group of children who play with imaginary friends.â€
Think about it Senator Dave Williams, Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul, they’ve really have us all believe a lot of things that aren’t really so, wouldn’t they. In their make-believe world with their imaginary friends they would have us believe that we can all somehow eat cake and lose weight. They would have us believe that unions cause recessions. They would have us believe bridges are, well you know, kind of like trees if you leave them alone long enough they’ll grow taller and stronger with age.
At their tea party there is no need to pay bills. There’s no need to be serious about spending and spending cuts. There’s no need to invest in the future because down is up, up is down, candy is a vegetable, and vegetables are candy. But of course, we know that their type of tea party is a lot more Alice in Wonderland then it is Sam Adams. It’s a lot more Mad Hatter then it is James Madison.
The real world doesn’t work like that. The real world is the world that our parents and our grandparents and our great-grandparents built for us.
They built it with their hands, they built it with their heart, they built it with their sacrifice, they built it with the hope they saw in the eyes of their children.
Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Will in Chicago:Quote by wickedpam:
Will have you tried VA for teaching? NoVA is always looking for teachers, esp Loudoun county is seems
I sent an application to a district there last year. As things stand, I had to deal with getting money for one license. If I am still here in a few months, I will see about a Virginia license. I am so tired of subbing and being broke that it is not even funny.
So you have to get licensed in each state? That sucks.
Quote by Will in Chicago:Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Will in Chicago:Quote by wickedpam:
Will have you tried VA for teaching? NoVA is always looking for teachers, esp Loudoun county is seems
I sent an application to a district there last year. As things stand, I had to deal with getting money for one license. If I am still here in a few months, I will see about a Virginia license. I am so tired of subbing and being broke that it is not even funny.
So you have to get licensed in each state? That sucks.
Yes, it does. And some tests are required. I plan to call later to see if I need the Communication and Literacy Test -- even though I have a Master's in Education, two Bachelors and have worked as a freelancer for a major metropolitan daily.
Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Will in Chicago:Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Will in Chicago:Quote by wickedpam:
Will have you tried VA for teaching? NoVA is always looking for teachers, esp Loudoun county is seems
I sent an application to a district there last year. As things stand, I had to deal with getting money for one license. If I am still here in a few months, I will see about a Virginia license. I am so tired of subbing and being broke that it is not even funny.
So you have to get licensed in each state? That sucks.
Yes, it does. And some tests are required. I plan to call later to see if I need the Communication and Literacy Test -- even though I have a Master's in Education, two Bachelors and have worked as a freelancer for a major metropolitan daily.
Well, that's just silly. Seems to me, if you have a Masters in Education you should get to jump over a bunch of stuff.
Quote by Will in Chicago:
A massive explosion has hit downtown Oslo, Norway. At least one person is confirmed dead.
Giant blast hits government buildings in Oslo, Norway
Quote by Will in Chicago:
I rather like the quote on the Tea Party from Maryland's Governor -- kudos to Debbie on the UNN Facebook page for posting this from Maryland's Democratic Party.
O’Malley: “Comes down to one timeless question, and it is: whether we move forward, or whether we slip backâ€Â
Let me touch on one last thing and it is this you know on the way here I looked up the dictionary definition of tea party and one of the definitions was this, “a group of children who play with imaginary friends.â€Â
Think about it Senator Dave Williams, Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul, they’ve really have us all believe a lot of things that aren’t really so, wouldn’t they. In their make-believe world with their imaginary friends they would have us believe that we can all somehow eat cake and lose weight. They would have us believe that unions cause recessions. They would have us believe bridges are, well you know, kind of like trees if you leave them alone long enough they’ll grow taller and stronger with age.
At their tea party there is no need to pay bills. There’s no need to be serious about spending and spending cuts. There’s no need to invest in the future because down is up, up is down, candy is a vegetable, and vegetables are candy. But of course, we know that their type of tea party is a lot more Alice in Wonderland then it is Sam Adams. It’s a lot more Mad Hatter then it is James Madison.
The real world doesn’t work like that. The real world is the world that our parents and our grandparents and our great-grandparents built for us.
They built it with their hands, they built it with their heart, they built it with their sacrifice, they built it with the hope they saw in the eyes of their children.